An ACO, or Accountable Care Organization, is a healthcare organization that ties provider reimbursements to quality metrics and reductions in the cost of care. ACOs are formed from a group of coordinated healthcare practitioners, such as doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high-quality care to patients. The goal of an ACO is to increase care coordination, reduce unnecessary medical care, and improve health outcomes, reducing utilization of acute care services.
Under Medicare, when an ACO succeeds both in delivering high-quality care and spending healthcare dollars more wisely, it will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program. ACOs assume accountability for improving the quality and cost of care for a defined patient population of Medicare beneficiaries.
ACOs can offer additional tools or services that other people in Original Medicare don’t get, such as expanded telehealth services. If your primary care provider participates in an ACO, you’ll get a written notice and you’ll see a poster in your provider’s office about their ACO participation. There are now hundreds of ACOs available across the country.
